


Stepping Closer

by Sefira



Category: Queen of Swords
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:08:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21823435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sefira/pseuds/Sefira
Summary: The Queen of Swords and Dr. Helm are slowly getting closer. Soon some revelations might be due.
Relationships: Tessa Alvarado/Robert Helm
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wish I had known this series existed earlier :D  
> And I wish there were more stories on the relationship Queen of Swords/Tessa /Dr. Helm...  
> But it seems most ffs focus on Helm/Montoya, so I had to try to write my own.  
> This little project might turn into some kind of 5+1 for an identity reveal, but I am not sure about that yet.  
> For now it's just this "One-shot" - hope you enjoy :)

“I told you before, you don’t EVER have permission to kill for me”, Dr. Helm said angrily yet his face was calm.  
The Queen of Swords’ eyes sparked when she bit back: “I did not ask for permission to save your life.”  
“Then we’re back to playing God? Deciding on who’s to live and who’s to die?”  
“Certainly not. But I do not need your permission to save a life, even if it means it costs someone else’s.”  
“And if that someone does not want to be saved? What about the other one’s life? Isn’t it just as important to preserve?”  
“Every life matters, I know that as well as you do, Doctor. But if I am to choose, I will choose to save the life more precious to me. Do you have a death wish, Doctor? Is there nothing worth living for? Do you crave death? Is that why you do not want me to save your life?”  
“I certainly do not wish to die, but I do not want to live on the cost of another life either. And besides, why do you even care? Just stop killing on my behalf.”  
For a moment they just stared at each other grimly, none wanting to step back from making his point. Then the Queen of Swords took step forward.  
“Why I care, you want to know?”  
She took another step forward, until she almost walked into him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him even closer. Her eyes burned fiercely, an unreadable expression in them.  
The next thing he knew was her mouth tightly pressed onto his, one hand wrapped around his waist, pulling him into her. It caught him by surprise and for a moment he was motionless, stunned. She had kissed him before, but he had assumed it had been out of gratitude for saving her from El Serpiente. But this kiss was different. He could feel all of her, tightly pressed against him, while her kiss was far from being gentle. It was harsh and loaded with anger, guilt and a touch of uncontrolled passion. Her fingers digged into his side, her other hand still holding on to the collar of his shirt.  
When he finally responded to the kiss, it was with equal passion and rage. His hands came up to cover the small of her back and press her further into him, while the fingers of his other hand threaded into her hair, intensifying the kiss.  
He could not deny he enjoyed kissing her like this. In fact, he had imagined doing exactly this more than once. He revelled in the feeling of her slim body pressed against his, her lips ravaging his, her hot breath, her hands on his body. He loved the roughness of it, the way her behaviour mirrored his own emotions.  
When he tried to dip her head back to gain access to her neck, she denied it, pushing him back until he felt the solid wall in his back. Her hands roamed his body, dipping lower while she kept him pinned to the wall.  
Giving up trying to gain some control over where this kiss went, he resigned to letting one hand roam her body, the other still tangled in her hair, while the kiss became more and more heated. When he traced the seam of her lips with his tongue, she opened them to him willingly and immediately engaged his tongue into a fight.  
This lit a whole new fire within him. It had been a while since he had been with a woman and she was making him go crazy, craving for more, craving for the feel of skin on skin again. But he did not dare touch her that way yet, however strong the burning desire was. He was barely able to grasp this was really happening. Thoughts of her had haunted him more often than not, in his waking hours as well as in his sleep. His admiration for her had only grown since they first met. He marvelled at her courage, her strength and her determination. And while he simply could not approve of her killing, he also had to acknowledge she only did it when there was no other way out and even then, it was with as much reluctance as she could allow herself at those moments. Besides, who was he to blame her?  
His own hands were drenched in blood. How many had died at his hands?  
Probably as many as he had saved with the very same hands.  
Hadn’t he had his fair share of playing God too? So, who was he to blame her? Just because her behaviour broke with the oath he had imposed upon himself - to never take a life again.  
Maybe he just projected his own principles onto her, because he wished she was like him. She already was in so many ways and yet she was so different. He did not know about her feelings, her thoughts, her true self.  
Hell, he did not even know who she truly was and why she took on to this crusade. So many things about her were wrapped in mystery, but when she kissed him just now, at least one of them was resolved. She reciprocated the feelings he had long thought vain. At least that was what he guessed from her reaction.  
When he brushed his fingers over her cheek, grazing the mask covering her face, she suddenly jerked back. Both of them were breathing heavily, fire cursing through their veins, heat and tension gathered in between them. Her eyes searched his and her piercing stare hit him.  
“I hope that clarifies why”, she suddenly said, voice a little raw, just like the feelings that had just been laid bare.  
Before he could respond, she peeled away and vanished into the shadows, leaving him behind with nothing but a pounding heart.  
Needless to say, her own heart was pounding just as fiercely but she could not stay, not with her emotions running wild, her feelings lying bare and her head spinning around what she had just done and how he had responded. So she left, as quickly as she could, hoping the hard ride home would sooth her raggedly beating heart.  
Dr. Helm just stared out of the window without really seeing anything, still trying to process what had just happened. They had been fighting, arguing, like they did from time to time. But the fight had escalated, turning into a battle of emotions and he realized with a little shock that he was beginning to fall. Falling hard and unchecked. Falling for her.  
Normally a controlled man, his emotions were running wild with her, this particular woman, the Queen of Swords. And with sudden clarity he knew he had to find her. He had to find her true self, the person she was in the pueblo in day to day life. That she lived at least nearby he was sure of. How else could she appear and disappear so quickly?  
Probably she acted differently when she was around the pueblo – to make no one suspicious. On one occasion she had accused him of wearing a mask too, the only difference being that his was invisible. Maybe the same was true for her. She probably wore another kind of disguise, hiding her true nature and intent, when she was in the pueblo.  
Whatever the case may be, he knew he needed to find her, to see the woman for who she really was, as a whole. It might not prevent him for falling for her further, plummeting down with no way of turning back, but at least he would know who he was up to. The thought of it set his nerves on fire and he suddenly felt restless, willing the morning to approach faster to start his search.  
When he looked out the window again, he thought he could see the silhouette of the Queen racing off on her horse into the darkness over the moonlit hills.  
And he made himself a promise: I will find you.


	2. Chapter 2

There was an explosion in the distance, the sounds of it echoing off the canyon walls. He urged his horse to go faster, worry starting to fill the back of his mind. The horse broke into a gallop and a few minutes later the smoking entrance of a mine came into view.  
So he had been right in his assumption – Montoya was trying to mine for gold again. And again, the Queen had stepped in to cross his plans, if the smoke billowing out of the mine entrance was any proof. Soldiers were stumbling out of the mine, coughing, among them a bunch of men who looked very much like peasants. Back to the same old scheme then, Montoya had arrested some men because of crimes they had not committed and brought them to the mines instead of the prison, to have them work for him.  
How the Queen had gotten wind of it, he did not know, but he assumed she was responsible for the smoke that drove the men out of the mines.  
“Run!”, one of the men shouted. “She’s gonna blow it all up!”   
The soldiers hurried to their horses, mounted and vanished in a cloud of dust, the peasants making their way off as quickly as they could by foot. Worry started nagging at Dr. Helm – was the Queen still in there?   
He forced his horse to gallop to the foot of the canyon wall the mine was hewn into and sprang off before it fully stopped. Anxiously he eyed the cave mouth. Red-orange flames began flickering out of it, licking at the wooden constructions that formed the entrance. The thing might not explode as the soldiers had feared but it might very well collapse.  
Was she still in there? Or had she already escaped the flames?  
There was no sign of her or her horse, but she had to be here if the soldiers had been set running. And if she was still in there, he had to find her and get her out!  
He started climbing the slope that led up to the mine’s entrance, when he suddenly heard a voice next to him.  
“Are you looking for something?”  
He spun around and faced a very much alive Queen of Swords, who was smiling at him with a hint of mischief.   
“Now, Doctor, what brought you here?”  
Instead of answering her question, he just pointed at her clothes, “What the heck is that?”, dipping a finger into the streaks of oily liquid on her shoulder.  
“Oh, that? Well, I had to creep out through a small side entrance because the fire spread much more quickly than I anticipated. I know why now – it’s this sticky stuff here, burns quite well and smells horrible. At first, I thought something was rotting in there, but it was just this stuff.”  
“And how did you get it all over you?”  
“Well, as I said, I had to creep through a narrow tunnel in order to get out and this stuff was more or less covering the floor. I did not really have a choice. But you still haven’t answered my question: Why are you here?”  
“I was looking for the missing peasants and I overheard that Montoya might be pining after gold again, so I thought I might just check up on the mines in the surrounding area.”  
“Very considerate of you, indeed.”  
“Are you done mocking me?”, he asked, and she flashed him a smile. “Perhaps.”   
Rolling his eyes, he turned around to walk back to his horse, but then reconsidered and went back to where she was standing.  
“You know how to get that stuff off?”  
“I guess I will just take a bath?”  
“Unless you want to rub the skin off your bones, I would recommend you get some benzine.”  
“And where would I get that?”  
“I might have some.”  
“Might?” Her question was teasing, “Are you trying to lure me?”  
“No”, his smile was just as bright as hers, “Why would I?”  
She considered him for a moment. “Maybe you just don’t want to go home alone.”  
That comment hit him harder than he had expected because, all of a sudden, he realised it was true. Not in this particular situation but in general. He did not want to come home to an empty house anymore – he actually started missing company.   
For many years he hadn’t minded, he had been happy to have his peace at home, but that had eventually started to change when he had moved to the pueblo. Life was so full and rich here, people gathering for shared meals, a friendly talk or fiestas. Sometimes he felt kind of left out because he did not have such close ties with anyone in the pueblo. The wish to be more involved in the daily business of the pueblo, not just as a doctor, but as a friend, had started to rise after he had decided to stay, to stop running.   
His decision had been related to the Queen of Swords too, he might as well admit to it. And it still was, even more so since the kiss they had shared last week. He found himself drawn in by the woman, wishing to get closer, to really get to know her, to spend more time with her.  
The prospect of seeing her might have contributed to the motivation for his trip to the mines. The occasion to spend a little more time with her, by having her come with him to get that benzine to remove the oily stains covering her, was just too convenient. Not that he would tell her that.  
So he just answered, “Maybe” and the Queen flashed him another smile. “Well, Doctor, then it seems I’ll have to come with you.”  
She for sure would not tell him that he had had her with his first remark already, the chance to spend some time chatting on the way back to the pueblo enthralling enough on its own.


End file.
